In a semiconductor manufacturing system, a semiconductor device manufactured through a combination of a plurality of process steps is processed sequentially by processing apparatuses which are prepared for respective process steps. In general, the processing apparatuses which are installed for the respective process steps are controlled according to a recipe prescribing process conditions. In general, a plurality of processing apparatuses having the same type are used for one process step.
With respect to a plurality of processing apparatuses used in one process step, for example, although a recipe produced by copying and editing a recipe used for one processing apparatus is used for different processing apparatuses, there is a case where comparison of a plurality of the recipes is performed. In general, with respect to comparison of two recipes, the two comparison recipes are converted into data in a format which can be understood by an operator, and a difference between the two recipes is extracted. In such a comparison method, a conversion module is needed to convert a binary-data recipe into a text-data recipe. However, since the format of a recipe is defined according to each type of a processing apparatus, the conversion module needs to be produced according to each type of the processing apparatus (recipe). Therefore, in the case where a new-type processing apparatus is introduced, a new conversion module needs to be produced, so that there is a problem in that a long time is taken.